Prioritise manufacturers that:   

• Are local to where you’ll be selling the product  

• Will help you avoid overstock of products  

• Embed recycling, circularity and minimal waste into their work  

• Implement environmental policies  

• Have premises powered by 100% renewable electricity 

Press vinyl at 140 gram instead of 180 gram. The sound quality is identical on the majority of listening equipment, but the carbon footprint from manufacturing and shipping is proportionally lower. 

• The best packaging is lightweight, full-card packaging, giving preference to post-consumer recycled card.  

• Recycled card feedstock is even better.  

• As a minimum, use card from FSC or PEFC-certified sources.  

• Avoid materials such as thick plastic laminate, UV inks and varnishes, metallised gold, silver and glitter – all of which add toxicity to the environment and make it impossible to recycle.  

Explore options like switching from plastic to card packaging for CDs, and use recycled or FSC-certified paper and card.  

Avoid overstock by introducing a ‘create-on-demand' model. Another way to do this is by eliminating runs designed for specific campaigns. Avoid products made from plastic, have a limited use or lifespan, and are likely to end up in landfill. 

For clothing & textiles:  

• Use certified (e.g. Soil Association, Global Organic Textile Standard [GOTS], Fair Trade) organic cotton fabrics or clothing made from more sustainable fibres like bamboo or hemp.  

• Look out for the OEKO-TEX-certification, which tests materials for harmful substances.  

• Clothing made from recycled, post-consumer waste and embrace the circular economy are powerful ways to reduce impact.  

• Use your merch company's experience on the popularity of each size to limit over-ordering.  

For other merchandise:  

• Explore ranges that support a sustainable mindset (e.g. reusable coffee cups) 

• Consider unusual brand partnerships that amplify positive impact 

These processes are much cheaper and have a much lower carbon footprint: 

• Minimise any unnecessary transport by manufacturing the product in the country where it will be sold.  

• Shipping direct to distributors from pressing plants rather than via a distribution centre 

In addition: 

• Choose distributors that are already using electric trucks and vans 

• Use sea freight, which is significantly less carbon intensive, than air for freighting LPs, merch and more 

• Eliminate single-use plastics and styrofoam  

• Go meat- and fish-free for your event catering 

• Introduce themes like Meat Free Mondays in the office 

Enable staff to reduce their footprint by using public transport, electric hire cars, bike or foot by:  

• Offering a salary sacrifice or staff perks schemes to purchase season tickets or bicycles (your country may also have established schemes like the UK's Cycle to Work Scheme).  

• Help your staff by installing safe bicycle lock-ups, providing showers, offering EV charging in office parking lots or even organising regular bike maintenance days. 

• If buying new vehicles for your business, prioritise: 1) electric vehicles 2) used vehicles. If you lease cars for staff, make these electric. 

Long-distance travel: 

• Reduce or eliminate air travel where possible: Zoom and Teams are gamechangers. 

• Use national rail companies and Eurostar for UK and European travel.  

• Consider banning domestic air travel where train travel under 6 hours is available.  

• If flying is necessary, consider implementing no ‘single-use’ travel, so that business trips are not for a single reason. 

• Where flying is necessary, fly economy. Business and First Class have significantly higher footprints. 

• Offer staff 'travel days’ if they take trains instead of flying for their holidays. Finally, consider adopting an Employee Benefit Scheme like Climate Perks. 

Most carbon accounting tools include travel measurement, but if this is your main impact area, you can use a travel-specific tool like  onboard.earth. 

The most impactful way to reduce emissions is to switch to renewable electricity. If you can generate your own electricity through solar panels, that’s even more efficient.  

Other methods: 

• Shift from gas heating to heat pumps in countries where the latter are available. 

• Invest in LED lighting. 

• Inform and educate your teams to switch off and reduce the energy use from heating and air conditioning while maintaining comfortable working temperatures.  

• When refurbishing and fitting out, choose low impact materials and look at sourcing second-hand furniture. 

• If you're in a rented office, ask landlords about their sustainability credentials and make this part of the criteria for choosing any new office spaces.  

For your servers and own websites: 

• Switch to servers that use 100% renewable electricity.  

• You can  design your website to use less energy (e.g. compressing pictures, limiting rich video content, etc.) You might find these resources helpful here and here. 

Computers and other electronic equipment:  

• Buy refurbished if you can 

• Look for 'A' energy efficiency ratings 

• Use equipment for as long as possible 

First and foremost, do everything possible to not create landfill: 

• Take care of what you own and repair it when possible to ensure longevity.  

• Through re-sale or charity look for future users of anything you are no longer using.  

• If a new user can’t be found, check if the manufacturer will refurbish and resell or recycle the product.  

• When this is not possible, use other recycling services available in your area.